I'm just getting started; have watched a few training videos on Equities & Forex; read a few books; it’s been a couple months since I started on this journey.
The I.T. industry is slowly boring me and I don’t intend to be in it forever. I want to learn something new and exciting, have always been interested in day trading.Trying to learn as much as I can before I jump in.

Greerings all, wanted to intoduce myself. Been looking at markets for a few years and getting serious about trading. Currently using Tradestation and doing a lot of study and paper trading. Look forward to participating in the forum and learning about writing code, building a solid plan and auto trading. Thanks in advance for all the support... Chuck

Gd morning all. Following the rules means introducing myself. I found this site/forum and resources while scavanging the net for few ninjascripts samples. In my prior life I was successfull teen playing with computers and my first jobs were coding commercial software in C and later on DCOM/COM+ and finally what came out as .NET. Its been a while i coded - but ninjascript and c sharp evolved from ms visual java++ and I vaguely remember that toy. In 2004 I changed my life completely having grown out of the entire computers thing and basically put everything on the line to switch countries and do a masters in finance with the firm eye on trading markets thereafter. My experience beforehand was trading a game forex account where my beginnings sound so familiar to yours. Upon graduation I landed a job on a derivatives desk and was hedging/risk managing a complex multi-asset class exotics book. Later on that job became trading a macro hedge on top of that book through blowout years of 2008/09. I then moved to a prop trading desk. With recent legislature that desk been closed and while on the break I've decided to invest some time to formalize my trading experience in a system. And hence find myself here. In terms of what is of most importance - i think many of you have an idea. Preserve your capital - after all game ends when you run out. Have a plan and stick to it - this is where having a set of indicators and discipline to follow them and not your ego comes in. And as any job or undertaking you need to give up something - your time and energy and focus. Good luck to you all. rgds alex

I am glad I found your secret (not really) batcave. Community is so important with trading, as it can be a lonely endeavor.

I have been attempting trade as full-time as possible since July '08. I have mostly been a frustrated break-even story. I have spent more money on indicators & methods than I have made, and I only wish that I had two years ago, the knowledge, understanding, and screen-time that I have now. Like so many stories I have read here, I found that once I started focusing on striping it all down and using just what works best for me, I started to see things with a lot more clarity.

I work full-time in the salt mines for the man. That doesn't mean that I don't flagrantly have my charts up and avoid doing real work...I get some things done, but I would much rather be trading. I am using the quiet summer-time trading to get "fake" work done and continue to collect a paycheck while I work on perfecting my edge.

I look forward to contributing to the forum and I want to thank Mike his his creation and passion.

Are you a NinjaTrader user?

I have day traded the s&p emini, positioned traded a few grains and metals years ago.
I am getting ready to position trade stock options again, the straight purchase of calls and puts.
I use Multicharts. As soon as I get a few personal issues taken care of I will start to trade again and will post items where appropriate, I hope. This is the finest forum, with great input from all, that I have come across. Thanks for letting me join.

I'm Panda Z. I mainly trade index options as per my subscription service on my website and over the past year have been getting into the futures market. I daytraded stocks AAPL and RIMM in the past with my bollinger band method but many people wanted it to work on the futures....but is did not work too well. Therefore, I've spent a long time researching ways to effectively trade the Emini ES in order to bank profit week after week. I'm getting really close and look forward to the insights of the members here and gain from collective wisdom.

After discovering the futures market I found myself getting away from stocks. Futures just seem to have many advantages.

Anyway, at this stage I'm looking at some really great emini trading systems and appreciate the chatting with members here.

My background is in the automotive field and have always been interested in learning how to trade. With the computer age bringing a wealth of info to your finger tips, I decided it was time to do something about it. I came across this forum while doing a search for NT info and indicators. From what I have seen so far, it seems like a great community with lots of GOOD info from very generous people. My goal is to be able to learn and transition into this industry or at least supplement my income and hopefully be able to give back as so many of you have. So thank you in advance to all who have contributed...

To Dream Is To Believe…To Believe Is To Achieve…To Achieve Is To Succeed

I began trading in 1971, and learned how to trade from futures industry legends, Leo Melamed, Tom Dittmer, and Barry Lind. At the age of 23, I became one of the youngest members of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, trading livestock and foreign currency futures. In 1979 I left the CME, to trade 30 Year Treasury Bond Futures at the Chicago Board of Trade, purchased a membership at the CBOT in 1982, and for the next 25 years, was a consistently profitable trader. I functioned as a market maker, day trader, and position trader, trading front month bonds, calendar and yield curve spreads, bond options, and grains.

I currently employ a top down approach to trading, by monitoring the inter-market relationships between equities, bonds, currencies, and commodities. I attempt to identify economic and fundamental relationships as they unfold in the market, in order to generate trades with a high probability of success. I initiate both directional and relative value trades, always looking for good technical setups, while objectively interpreting price action, analyzing capital flows, and utilizing a disciplined money management methodology.

My focus is on risk and capital preservation. "To make great sums of money, you must first learn to how to lose much smaller sums when you are wrong"

I have traded during some of the biggest financial disasters of the 20th and 21st centuries:

I have had to alter my trading style numerous times. It is the ways in which we adapt, or fail to adapt to change, that define our success. In order to maintain a certain degree of success, I have had to periodically remake myself and adjust my trading style. While trading fundamentals never change, new trading techniques have to be applied to changing markets. Algorithmic techniques and the technology that powers them have greatly influenced and altered the way that financial instruments are traded. In the "new" market dominated by HFT, I have tried to recognize what the HFTs are doing, and the effect they are having on the market and react accordingly.

While I have searched for, and found alpha many times, I have also misplaced it with greater frequency, while making the transition from the floor to the screen. And although I have been trading electronically for quite sometime, I still feel I have much more to learn before I achieve the consistency I enjoyed in the pits.

I am looking forward to improving my trading with the tutelage I receive from Big Mike's Trading Forum.